Alex de Minaur acknowledges he needs to work on his game if he wants to challenge the highest-ranked player in the world following his exit from the Davis Cup on Saturday.
The world No.9 was beaten 6-3, 6-4, by Jannik Sinner during Italy’s 2-0 win over Australia in the semi-finals. De Minaur has only ever won one set against Sinner and has lost to him nine times since their first meeting in 2019. This season, he was also beaten by the world No.1 in the Rotterdam Open final and at the ATP Finals in Turin where he was making his debut.
“Look, it’s never easy playing the No.1 player in the world. He’s obviously playing with a lot of confidence,” de Minaur told reporters in Malaga.
“It was a tough match. Had chances. Had opportunities but, yeah, look, he hasn’t won a million matches this year for no reason.
“There is a reason for that. It was tough, but things have to improve for me and hopefully next time I’ll have a better chance.”
De Minaur, 25, has experienced a strong year on the Tour where he reached the quarter-finals at his last three Grand Slam tournaments, won two ATP titles and peaked at a ranking high of No.6 back in July. However, he has only won five out of 14 matches against top-10 players on the ATP Tour since January.
One of the biggest Achilles heels for De Minaur is without a doubt Sinner, who has won 70 Tour-level matches this season and claimed seven ATP trophies, including both the Australian Open and the US Open.
“It’s like trying to solve a puzzle that not a lot of people have managed to solve,” he said.
“That’s probably the best way I would describe it.
“His ball speed, his consistency feels like there’s no real letdown of focus throughout the whole match.
“So if you want to go out and beat him, you’ve got to go out and play some of your best tennis. Especially in those big points, you need to step up.
“So that’s how it feels like. It feels like he comes out, he’s solid, he plays well. In the big moments he steps it up.
“He’s just a very tough player to play against this year, as many other opponents have definitely felt that.”
In the Davis Cup final on Sunday, Sinner will lead Italy in their title clash against underdogs the Netherlands.
